METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING A SPLIT LANE TRAFFIC LOCATION

• US 20170004707A1
• Filed: 04/29/2016
• Published: 01/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Fowe, James, Ciprian, Joe, Knap, Piotr, Yu, Yingzhou
• Granted Patent: US 9,911,327 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3415 Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3492 employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3658 Lane guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3691 Retrieval, searching and output of information related to real-time traffic, weather, or environmental conditions arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions G08G1/09
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3694 Output thereof on a road map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0129 for creating historical data or processing based on historical data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0133 for classifying traffic situation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0141 for traffic information dissemination
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0145 for active traffic flow control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/052 with provision for determining speed or overspeed speed measuring in general G01P
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096844 where the complete route is dynamically recomputed based on new data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection

Abstract

A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to identify a split lane traffic location. In a method, a distribution of speeds associated with a plurality of historical probe points representative of travel along a road segment upstream of diverging downstream road segments is determined for each of a plurality of epochs. For each epoch, the distribution is evaluated to cluster the speeds associated with the plurality of historical probe points during the respective epoch into higher and lower speed clusters. For each epoch, it is determined whether a bi-modality condition exists upstream of the diverging downstream road segments based upon a relationship between the higher speed and the lower speed during the respective epoch. A split lane traffic location is then identified based upon a bi-modality frequency with which a bi-modality condition is determined from the historical probe points associated with the plurality of epochs.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

for each of a plurality of epochs, determining a distribution of speeds associated with a plurality of historical probe points representative of travel along a road segment upstream of diverging downstream road segments during the respective epoch;

for each of the plurality of epochs, evaluating the distribution so as to cluster the speeds associated with the plurality of historical probe points during the respective epoch into a higher speed cluster associated with a higher speed and a lower speed cluster associated with a lower speed;

for each of the plurality of epochs, determining whether a bi-modality condition exists upstream of the diverging downstream road segments based upon a relationship between the higher speed and the lower speed during the respective epoch; and

identifying a split lane traffic location based upon a bi-modality frequency with which a bi-modality condition is determined from the historical probe points associated with the plurality of epochs.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the road segment upstream of the diverging downstream road segments comprises a plurality of links, and wherein determining the distribution of speeds, evaluating the distribution, and determining whether a bi-modality condition exists are performed for the link closest to the diverging downstream road segments for each of the plurality of epochs.

3. A method according to claim 1 further comprising determining the bi-modality frequency based upon a relationship between a number of epochs for which the bi-modality condition is determined to exist and a total number of epochs for which the historical probe points are evaluated.

4. A method according to claim 3 wherein determining the relationship comprises determining a ratio of the number of epochs for which the bi-modality condition is determined to exist to the total number of epochs for which the historical probe points are evaluated.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein identifying the split lane traffic location comprises identifying the upstream road segment and the diverging downstream road segments as the split lane traffic location in an instance in which the bi-modality frequency satisfies a predefined threshold.

6. A method according to claim 1 wherein determining whether a bi-modality condition exists comprises separating the speeds associated with the plurality of historical probe points for the respective epoch into a plurality of bins and determining a bi-modality value based upon a difference between mean speeds of the different bins and also based on a range of the speeds.

7. A method according to claim 6 wherein determining the bi-modality value comprises determining the bi-modality value based upon a ratio of the difference between mean speeds of the different bins and the range of the speeds during the respective epoch.

8. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least:

for each of a plurality of epochs, determining a distribution of speeds associated with a plurality of historical probe points representative of travel along a road segment upstream of diverging downstream road segments during the respective epoch;

for each of the plurality of epochs, evaluating the distribution so as to cluster the speeds associated with the plurality of historical probe points during the respective epoch into a higher speed cluster associated with a higher speed and a lower speed cluster associated with a lower speed;

for each of the plurality of epochs, determining whether a bi-modality condition exists upstream of the diverging downstream road segments based upon a relationship between the higher speed and the lower speed during the respective epoch; and

identifying a split lane traffic location based upon a bi-modality frequency with which a bi-modality condition is determined from the historical probe points associated with the plurality of epochs.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the road segment upstream of the diverging downstream road segments comprises a plurality of links, and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to determine the distribution of speeds, evaluate the distribution, and determine whether a bi-modality condition exists are performed for the link closest to the diverging downstream road segments for each of the plurality of epochs.

10. An apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to determine the bi-modality frequency based upon a relationship between a number of epochs for which the bi-modality condition is determined to exist and a total number of epochs for which the historical probe points are evaluated.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10 wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to determine the relationship by determining a ratio of the number of epochs for which the bi-modality condition is determined to exist to the total number of epochs for which the historical probe points are evaluated.

12. An apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to identify the split lane traffic location by identifying the upstream road segment and the diverging downstream road segments as the split lane traffic location in an instance in which the bi-modality frequency satisfies a predefined threshold.

13. An apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to determine whether a bi-modality condition exists by separating the speeds associated with the plurality of historical probe points for the respective epoch into a plurality of bins and determining a bi-modality value based upon a difference between mean speeds of the different bins and also based on a range of the speeds.

14. An apparatus according to claim 13 wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to determine the bi-modality value by determining the bi-modality value based upon a ratio of the difference between mean speeds of the different bins and the range of the speeds during the respective epoch.

15. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code portions stored therein, the computer-executable program code portions comprising program code instructions configured to:

for each of a plurality of epochs, determining a distribution of speeds associated with a plurality of historical probe points representative of travel along a road segment upstream of diverging downstream road segments during the respective epoch;

for each of the plurality of epochs, evaluating the distribution so as to cluster the speeds associated with the plurality of historical probe points during the respective epoch into a higher speed cluster associated with a higher speed and a lower speed cluster associated with a lower speed;

for each of the plurality of epochs, determining whether a bi-modality condition exists upstream of the diverging downstream road segments based upon a relationship between the higher speed and the lower speed during the respective epoch; and

identifying a split lane traffic location based upon a bi-modality frequency with which a bi-modality condition is determined from the historical probe points associated with the plurality of epochs.

16. A computer program product according to claim 15 wherein the road segment upstream of the diverging downstream road segments comprises a plurality of links, and wherein the program code instructions configured to determine the distribution of speeds, evaluate the distribution, and determine whether a bi-modality condition exists are performed for the link closest to the diverging downstream road segments for each of the plurality of epochs.

17. A computer program product according to claim 15 wherein the computer-executable program code portions further comprise program code instructions configured to determine the bi-modality frequency based upon a relationship between a number of epochs for which the bi-modality condition is determined to exist and a total number of epochs for which the historical probe points are evaluated.

18. A computer program product according to claim 17 wherein the program code instructions configured to determine the relationship comprise program code instructions configured to determine a ratio of the number of epochs for which the bi-modality condition is determined to exist to the total number of epochs for which the historical probe points are evaluated.

19. A computer program product according to claim 15 wherein the program code instructions configured to identify the split lane traffic location comprise program code instructions configured to identify the upstream road segment and the diverging downstream road segments as the split lane traffic location in an instance in which the bi-modality frequency satisfies a predefined threshold.

20. A computer program product according to claim 15 wherein the program code instructions configured to determine whether a bi-modality condition exists comprise program code instructions configured to separate the speeds associated with the plurality of historical probe points for the respective epoch into a plurality of bins and program code instructions configured to determine a bi-modality value based upon a difference between mean speeds of the different bins and also based on a range of the speeds.